RE: Oakwood Travel (Classic Bus North West)
Statement by Catch22Bus
Former Senior Traffic Commissioner Beverley Bell has resigned following an investigation into her conduct by retired High Court Judge Sir Alistair MacDuff.
The complaints were made by Philip Higgs and Catch22Bus back in March 2015, but the Department for Transport did not start investigating the allegations of "serious misconduct" until almost 3-years later in February 2018.
The complaints were made as a result of her conduct at a Public Inquiry which occurred over multiple hearings between April 2014 and May 2015 and resulted in an adverse decision to revoke the licence of Catch22Bus in June 2015. Her decision was successfully appealed in respect of her 39 adverse findings of fact and a further review by another Traffic Commissioner found "no adverse compliance issues", overturning the 39 facts. It was Higgs' contention that the "39 facts" were not supported by either the transcript, oral or documentary evidence that she considered.
Sir Alistair’s report was issued in draft at the end of June last year and considered a sworn affidavit prepared by the complainant to support the many allegations of misconduct. A final report, following further meetings with Mrs Bell, was issued to the Department for Transport in September 2018.
Despite several promises, the DfT has not shared the full report with the complainant, with Mrs Bell objecting to the report’s disclosure on the grounds of “her human rights and data protection”. Now the Secretary of State, Chris Grayling has determined he “will now close your complaint and take no further action. In the light of the former Traffic Commissioner for the North West’s objections to Sir Alistair’s report...the report will not be released into the public domain.”
Philip Higgs, Director of Catch22Bus said that “I think you can draw your own conclusions as to what has prompted this resignation and we now know that the complaints have been substantially upheld". I understand from the DfT that "Mrs Bell resigned prior to the conclusion of an internal process". The DfT has declined to investigate another serious complaint into her conduct, made by a haulage operator in 2018, following her resignation.
Philip added that further action would continue to seek full disclosure of the Judge’s report given the significant damage her conduct has caused to both business and personal reputation.
Philip wishes to express his appreciation to Sir Alistair MacDuff for what appears to be a very thorough investigation.